Ghana

“The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it”

~W.M. Lewis

Ghana stole my heart. From the second we arrived I felt welcome and comfortable. The day we arrived I took a tour with SAS to the castles and slave dungeons. We saw Elmina castle as well as Cape Coast Castle. It is very hard to describe the way it felt to stand in the slave dungeons. Being in the exact place where millions suffered, waiting for their fates, was chilling to say the least. My friend Jill and I didn’t say a word to each other the entire time. It was horrifying, powerful, and extremely educational. The Atlantic Slave Trade is a topic covered in every social studies class from elementary school on, but there is absolutely no way to really get a sense of their horrible conditions until you see it. We were locked into two dungeons. The first was used for soldiers who were drunk or misbehaving. There was light, and plenty of windows to allow air circulation. The next one was used for slaves who misbehaved or tried to revolt. The only source of air or light was through the very small hole in the metal gate. It was absolutely suffocating, and the scrapes in the walls from shackles and nails made you feel like you were in the middle of a horror movie. It was completely terrifying, but I think it was an important experience. We also saw the men’s and women’s dungeons, and the tunnels finally leading to “the door of no return”. This is where those that survived the dungeons were brought to board the ships. We were told that the dungeons would be packed with hundreds of people, which was unimaginable, because we were feeling claustrophobic with about 25 of us. It was an incredibly powerful experience, and images of brands and shackles are still burned into my mind.

Our spirits were lifted, however, by the locals outside of the dungeons. One young boy gave me a seashell with my name painted on it, and another guy gave me a bracelet. We also learned how to play some instruments that were kind of like maracas. I had fun exchanging key chains and stories with people, and everyone was very nice. The next day I went on a canopy walk in Kakum National Park. It was absolutely gorgeous! The bridges were very high up, and very narrow and wobbly. I’m not going to lie, I felt a lot like Indiana Jones. I could’ve done that all day, I was having so much fun! We weren’t able to see too many animals, because all of the forest elephants and monkeys are nocturnal. We then went to eat lunch (delicious Jalof rice…I couldn’t get enough) and listen to the bamboo orchestra. The music was beautiful and the dancing was amazing! The dancer pulled some of us up to learn one of the dances. Yes I did go up, and yes I had the time of my life! They were kind enough not to completely laugh at us trying to do their dances…again, amazingly nice people.

            The next day I went to habitat for humanity. It was very fun and a very rewarding experience. I definitely plan on getting involved with more projects in the future. I was put on plaster duty, so by the end of the day I was completely covered in mud and cement. I think I got pretty good at it by the end of the day though! Some of the kids from the village came to eat lunch with us. One of the boys was about 14 years old, and he had skipped school because he had to go get water for his family. The well is about a two mile walk, so it took the whole day to get enough water. I think one of my favorite parts about the trips I did was the drive there. There is so much to see just looking out the windows. Women carrying amazingly large baskets on their heads, children bathing out of buckets right in front of their houses, people pulling in giant fishing nets on the beach. It is such a different lifestyle there, and it was beautiful to see the way they live. We passed by some villages that were entirely made up of grass and mud huts, with no electricity, no running water, and goats running around everywhere. To us, it seems so different, maybe even primitive, but to them it is all they know. I loved watching the kids wrestling with each other, playing soccer, and just smiling from ear to ear.

            We went to the beach the next day, which was quite an adventure. In Ghana you can hire little busses called tro-tros. Normally they hold about 10 people…our group had 16. Somehow we managed to squeeze everyone into one and made it to the beach. The tro-tro drivers stop all the time to do errands or talk to friends. On the way to the beach, our driver stopped to get himself some fried plantains, dropped off his recycling, and paid off the cops so that he wouldn't get fined for having too many people. The beach was incredibly beautiful and the water was so warm! I got stung by jellyfish a few times, but I was so enthralled by the beach and the people that I barely noticed. We brought some candy and gum and passed it out to some of the kids. They sat with us for hours, playing with our ipods and our cameras. We played soccer, and rock-paper scissors, and tag with the kids, it was so much fun! I even tried to balance one of the little girl’s baskets on my head….I was horrible at it, but it made her laugh pretty hard! We ate fried lobster and drank fresh pineapple juice, I was in heaven!

Throughout our time there we made good friends with the vendors that set up at port when we got there. They all had amazing memories, and they knew exactly who you were and what you wanted to buy every time you walked past. That night, Jill and I hung out with some of the guys and learned how to play drums. It was definitely addicting! I spent hours learning different beats and songs! Finally, at 1:30 in the morning we went back to the ship with swollen hands and amazing memories. Jill has been wanting to get dredlocks for a while, so our last day was mission day. I had some souvenirs to buy, and we needed to find somewhere for Jill to get her hair dredded. Luckily right out of port we ran into a friend I had met a few nights before, named Elvis. He completely took care of us all day. He took us to the bank, the post office, and found someone who would do Jill’s hair. For the rest of the afternoon we sat on the street, ate tiger nuts, and talked about our lives while about three people worked on Jill’s hair. Elvis was hilarious and very nice. When I kept thanking him for helping us out so much, he told me “you don’t have to thank me, we all need each other, it's the way it should be”. How true is that? I found myself shocked at how friendly and helpful every one in Ghana was, but really they have it right. It should be like that everywhere! My experience in Ghana was incredible to say the very least. I was sad leaving the other ports, but this time I actually felt like I was saying goodbye to friends. I absolutely intend to go back someday. I learned and saw some amazing things, and I fell in love with the people there. American guys definitely need to learn some things from Ghanaian men…they know what romance is, that's for sure! I wish I could show everyone the things I learned and felt while I was there, but I know that won’t be possible. Just know that I loved it in so many ways! =) Next stop South Africa! Miss you all!

Slideshow is below =)

Ghana Slideshow!